1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-function transaction processing system which many be disposed at a commercial location in order to complete a variety of commercial transactions, including credit/debit card purchases, while also facilitating one or more alternate, commercially advantageous functions including the issuance of authorization codes for purposes related to pre-paid telephony service, Internet purchases, lottery purchases, and the like, without having to have a pre-selected inventory on hand. Moreover, the present transaction processing system is configured to be accessed my multiple users, preferably including a customer and an attendant so as to provide the customer with substantial freedom and flexibility to select and customize a desired product, such as the authorization code, while also achieving attended consummation of the transaction which increases purchase flexibility and security. Accordingly, a customer may have a very large variety of potential selections available to them in an easy to identify and substantially current manner that does not take up excessive inventory space, and does not require the merchant to choose between more or less popular selections.
Furthermore, the multi-function transaction processing system provides an effective source for the dissemination of a variety of promotional materials in connection with the transaction being completed utilizing the system and is configured to produce and issue a customized card to a particular user with minimal printer error and account losses.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the ever increasing popularity of credit or debit card payments at commercial establishments, it is becoming increasingly commonplace to find small credit card transaction terminals at commercial establishments such as grocery stores, gas stations, convenience stores, and the like. Typically, these conventional credit/debit card transaction terminals are linked to an affiliated service so as to provide for the approval of a particular transaction, thereby facilitating payment to the merchant. Such traditional transaction terminals are, however, limited to providing authorization for a particular purchase in lieu of a cash payment for products or services that are normally offered by the merchant. As a result, while they are a convenience for the operators of commercial establishments, they do not provide any added commercial advantage to the commercial establishment. Indeed, the convenience factor is generally the only factor to offset the service fees that must typically be paid by the commercial establishments to the authorizing entity. As a result, it would be beneficial to provide an enhanced transaction terminal as part of a transaction system, which in addition to facilitating traditional credit/debit card purchases, will also provide an added source of economic benefit for the commercial establishments employing such a system, directly as a result of its use.
An example of an added source of revenue that has become increasingly popular for merchants includes the calling card industry, wherein a particular commercial advantage is being attained from the sale of pre-paid calling cards. Specifically, such pre-paid calling cards are typically supplied in bulk to a retail establishment where they may be sold at specific monetary denominations. In essence, each pre-paid, pre-printed calling card provides a purchasing consumer with the appropriate access to a defined amount of telephony connection time. As a result, the consumer, often at a reduced rate, is able to initiate any desired telephony communication from any telephone, without incurring toll or other service charges in connection with that telephone.
Despite advances in the calling card industry, it is often commercially limiting to provide the physical cards to the commercial or retail establishments for appropriate sale to the consumers. For example, if sales are slow at a particular location, an inventory of cards will remain unused and unsold. The fact that a finite amount of air time is purchased by the operators of the card requires that the time remain un-used in case a purchase does indeed occur with regard to a pre-printed account. Conversely, an establishment which makes a large volume of sales may run out of cards and future potential sales will be lost as no cards are available. Yet another inconvenience associated with traditional pre-printed calling card relates to the need for inventory space to store large volumes of physical cards, naturally resulting in added expense, and the fact that the cards, once printed, cannot be changed if retail identity, rates, etc., change, and provide an actual commodity susceptible to theft or other misappropriation.
Furthermore, it is also recognized that with increased globalization and competition in the market, there are a substantial number of alternative products that are now available to consumers. For example, in the pre-paid calling card industry, there are a variety of plans available based upon a number of factors including typical duration of call, call destination, call origination location, etc. As such, a plan that is most desirable to a consumer who makes a majority of there calls to one location may not be the most desirable to a consumer that places calls to many different locations. Accordingly, utilizing conventional systems a user has limited choices and truly cannot explore, take advantage of, or identify the best option from a large sampling. It is also noted that despite the desirability to have an attended transaction processing system in many instances, an attendant often does not have sufficient time or knowledge to assist a consumer by explaining or presenting to them a variety of options.
It is recognized that others in the art have sought to develop individual card printing devices. Specifically, such devices are generally standard printing devices that print a particular calling card on demand, thereby minimizing the space and inventory requirements of the commercial establishments and permitting at least a degree of variability, such as in connection with card denominations. Unfortunately, however, such systems are still severely limited, as each card printing terminal is provided with a finite number of plans and access codes to be printed on a finite number of calling cards. Typically, a quantity of the access codes are downloaded into the individual terminal at a predetermined period of time, in much the same manner that traditional cards are stocked at the establishment. As a result, the information and the plans cannot be readily updated and these existing devices do not alleviate the problems associated with outstanding, unsold access codes/pin numbers, or the loss of sales after depletion of an initially defined volume of cards. Furthermore, such terminals are merely printers which print a number of cards, and they do not provide any further business enhancing qualities or functions which provide a commercial advantage to the establishment utilizing the terminal, beyond merely the sale of a small selection of calling card. Moreover, it is also recognized that whenever an attempt to customize the appearance of a particular card is made, significant losses to misprints and the like can occur. For example, if a card stock is provided with indicia on one face and a printable surface on an opposite face, improper introduction of a stock card into the printer will result in either an illegible print and/or the failure of a thermal type printer to print anything on the card. Still, however, under such circumstances the authorization code has been generated and issued, and the printing of a new card results in the issuance of a new authorization number. In such a situation, even if the transaction is voided, the authorization number is used and remains ‘open’ in the control system. Naturally such can be very costly and inconvenient to service providers as they often deal with finite number blocks of authorization numbers and it is not practical to have a large number of outstanding numbers which the service provider cannot distinguish between actually purchased, but yet unused cards versus misprints.
Accordingly, there is still a need in the art for a calling card system which does not have to be limited in terms of quantities sold, allows for complete card versatility, and ensures that proper utilization of all resources is maintained without waste, improper printing or storage problems. Additionally, such a transaction system should provide enhanced functionality so as to provide a variety of commercially advantageous services/products for a particular establishment, providing consumer incentive for the calling card purchases and to providing a mechanism via which the costs associated with the calling card to the retail or distributor can be offset through the association of alternative commercial endeavors, such as promotions and other services. Also, such a transaction system should be easy and convenient to interact with by a consumer, providing the consumer with updated information and a large number of selections and information, while still providing for attendant control and coordination of certain vital features such as payment processing and actual card issuance, if desired.
The present invention also recognizes that given the advances of global computerized network communications and commerce, increased purchase avenues are continuously being made available to consumers. Unfortunately, however, many traditional consumers still have security concerns associated with consummating such electronic transactions, especially if they will be required to transmit credits/debit card information to the merchant. In some circumstances, privacy concerns also restrict a consumer's desire to make certain purchases by traditional means. As a result, it would be beneficial to provide a transaction system which is capable of offering prepaid services which can not only be utilized for such traditional services as telephony communication, but which also provides a means through which a consumer can establish a prepaid purchase, utilizing that pre-payment for any of a variety of products or services.